Archive for the ‘News’ Category
American Luxury Comes To New York City with the Launch of Vision Vodka
Media Release: Vision Vodka is hitting the market as the first reasonably priced brand of luxury vodka in the United States. The wheat-based vodka distributed by Southern Wine & Spirits can be found in New York City at hotspots like Hudson Terrace as 
well as Astor Wines, retailing at $29.99 for 1 liter.
The makers of Vision attribute the vodka’s premium smooth taste to using the purest water found in Oregon and the best homegrown wheat. They employ the highest quality filtration, distilling Vision five times and utilize a special secret finishing process exclusively invented for Vision Vodka.
Vision’s production is not “batch” or “handcrafted” as those terms are a ruse to hide a small production. Vision went straight to the biggest players in the industry, getting their bottles from a factory capable of making 100,000 bottles a day. Vision’s distiller can fill 1,000 cases of product every day. Vision is poised for national and international expansion, systematically pervading New York City before taking over each state, one at a time.
Vision Vodka’s CEO David Moritz describes the design of the bottle as being created from “the inside out,” a design-vision realized by Mode Design Group. The quality and purity of the product is expressed in the clean and minimal product packaging. Vision’s unique confidence differentiates its product and brand from any other spirit on the market because it is the first true American luxury vodka. “It’s time for the USA to have the highest quality, purist, and most perfectly designed vodka in the world,” says Moritz.
David Moritz, who is also CEO of Society Awards, has spared no expense in designing the chic bottle for Vision Vodka. His design history includes creating the statuettes for MTV‘s VMA’s, Movie Awards, GLAAD Awards and the new statuettes for the 66th Annual Golden Globes.
About Vision Vodka
Vision Vodka is distilled from America heartland wheat and made with fresh, clean mountain spring water, then purified with a proprietary process developed in the USA, creating the smoothest and best tasting vodka, whether neat, chilled, in a martini or mixed. Vision Vodka is our vision of perfection. www.visionvodka.com
Marie Assante
R. Couri Hay Creative Public Relations
143 W. 81st Street
NY, NY 10024
212-580-0835
917-837-0755
Paid Media Release
Be Part of the Next MUMM Explorer Experience
BE PART OF THE NEXT MUMM EXPLORER EXPERIENCE
G.H. MUMM LAUNCHES PHOTOGRAPHY ONLINE COMPETITION TODAY
Media Release: Following the success of the previous MUMM EXPLORER EXPERIENCES, G.H. MUMM is launching today www.thegame-mumm.com; an online photography competition, giving a unique opportunity for consumers to be part of the next expedition in September this year.
Since 2008, G.H. MUMM has been organizing a series of unexpected gastronomic dinner to celebrate the beauty of the world in the most beautiful place with South African explorer Mike Horn. The MUMM EXPLORER EXPERIENCE was born: an invitation to a once in the lifetime gastronomic experience orchestrated by a Michelin star Chef, as part of a true and authentic expedition alongside a real adventurer.
Previous MUMM EXPLORER EXPERIENCE took place in remarkable places; in July 2008, the first expedition took his VIP guest to Greenland on an iceberg drifting in the middle of Sermilik Fjord, featuring a gourmet meal orchestrated by two-star Michelin Chef Sylvestre Wahid. The second journey took place in Antarctica to the very same spot where Commander Charcot spent the winter in 1904, alongside three-star Michelin Gérard Boyer. And the third MUMM Explorer Experience took place in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef where Mauro Colagreco Chef prepared a gastronomic lunch on a pristine sandbank.
Where will the fourth MUMM EXPLORER EXPERIENCE be next? To get a chance to discover it and win a place to this unique expedition, G.H. MUMM is appealing consumer’s creativity and photography skills. And you can join them too! To participate, simply log onto www.thegame-mumm.com. Take the best snapshot of what you think is the best set of a “stunning dinner to celebrate the world’s beauty”, and upload your picture on to the site. To increase your chances of winning, you can even ask your friends to vote for your picture.
The game is live until 4 July so there is no time to waste.
The 10 submitted pictures with the highest number of votes will be reviewed by a G.H. MUMM jury panel and Mike Horn. The lucky winners of the competition will be announced on 14 July together with the revealing of the MUMM EXPLORER EXPERIENCE destination. The eight runners up will be delivered with a bottle of MUMM Cordon Rouge champagne.
So come and play!
For further information:
For press inquiries:
Camille Ballu
G.H. MUMM Communications Manager
Email: camille.ballu@mumm.com
Tel : +33 3 26 49 59 41
Paid media release
PERRIER-JOUËT FLOWER TABLE BY DESIGNER NOÉ DUCHAUFOUR-LAWRANCE
When Champagne touches all the senses in an artistic way.
PERRIER-JOUËT Media Release – April 2010 – Ever since it was founded in 1811, Perrier-Jouët Champagne has been cultivating its taste for artistic creations. Faithful to this tradition, the champagne House partnered with French designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance to create a unique champagne tasting table: the Perrier-Jouët Flower table.
The Flower Table was unveiled today in exclusivity at the International Design Exhibition in Milan.
What better way to fully appreciate Perrier-Jouët Cuvées than with a champagne tasting table? Celebrating the arrival of spring, the Perrier-Jouët Flower Table echoes the distinctive shape of the anemone, icon of the Champagne House in an stylish and elegant way. The interior of the table opens out to reveal a fluid and curved champagne bowl – a real invitation for guests to gather and appreciate fully this artistic champagne tasting experience.
Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance inspiration came following a visit to Maison Belle Époque, the Perrier-Jouët hospitality house in Épernay. Turned into a unique showcase of the Belle Époque Cuvée, the House holds almost 200 original pieces from the Art Nouveau movement, whose leader included artist and Art Nouveau pioneer Émile Galle, who designed in 1902 the anemones that adorn every one of Perrier-Jouet Cuvées today.
This sense of beauty explains why the respective worlds of Perrier-Jouët and Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance converge so closely: they both share the same sensitivity for organic shapes, and close approach to Nature.
To accompany the French Designer’s work and fully appreciate the tasting experience, Perrier-Jouët invited 3-star Michelin French Chef Anne-Sophie Pic, to come up with some culinary delicacies to sample around the Flower Table. Anne-Sophie Pic created a series of beautiful “Amuse-Bouches”, a real concentrate of sensorial emotions, in perfect harmony with Perrier-Jouët Cuvées.
HERVÉ DESCHAMPS
Hervé Deschamps has been the Cellar Master for Perrier-Jouët since 1993. He is the current guardian of the Perrier-Jouët style of elegance and refinement. He sees his role like a real artist; he conceives each Cuvée as a piece of Art, bringing to life its charm, elegance and refinement. Hervé Deschamps is the latest of only 7 Cellar Masters to know the secret of the Perrier-Jouët very own signature style.
NOÉ DUCHAUFOUR-LAWRANCE
French Designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, is both a designer of objects and interior environments. Brought up in a creative environment, the Designer takes his inspiration from Nature; working on natural shapes, organic lines, which remain structured at the same time. His vision is to convey a real emotion through his work, like Perrier-Jouët.
ANNE-SOPHIE PIC
Anne-Sophie Pic, is the only female Chef in France to have been awarded with three Michelin stars. Inspired by her family immersed within the gastronomy industry, Anne-Sophie Pic style of cooking is renowned for its range of savours, and simplicity. She has worked with Perrier-Jouët on several occasions, in particular for the amazing launch of the Perrier-Jouët Cuvée By & For. She shares with Hervé Deschamps the same passion for bringing out emotions.
For further information, please contact:
Camille Ballu
Communication manager
Camille.ballu@perrier-Jouët.com
A New Muse for Perrier-Jouët’s New Advertising Campaign
Perrier Jouët Fleur de Champagne 2002 Vintage
Champagne and Artistry: Perrier-Jouët
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Copyright 2010 Cheri Loughlin – The Intoxicologist – All Rights Reserved
Bacardi Harnesses Wind to Power World’s Largest Premium Rum Distillery
Largest wind turbines in Puerto Rico; part of broad corporate responsibility renewable energy initiative
Cataño, Puerto Rico, April 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — The world’s favorite premium rum — BACARDI — now has the power of wind behind it. Bacardi Corporation, part of the Bacardi Limited group of companies, and home to the largest premium rum distillery in the world, today unveiled the largest wind turbine installation in Puerto Rico designed to harness natural wind energy to help power Bacardi’s top global distillery near San Juan.
The 250,000 tourists who flock to the Casa Bacardi Visitor Center each year will not only learn about the history and production of the world’s favorite premium rum and the world’s most awarded rum, but also that natural wind energy powered the center.
“While many know Bacardi for great rums and cocktails, Bacardi also has been a leader in corporate responsibility and environmental progress. We’re always looking for ways to help the environment and reduce our carbon footprint,” said Joaquin Bacardi, president and chief executive of Cataño-based Bacardi Corporation. “Our latest innovation with these two specialized wind turbines seizes the power of the wind adding more force to Bacardi’s overall environmental commitment to save energy.”
The two Bacardi wind turbine units, which can be seen from miles away, are industrial scale at 250kW each and are owned by Cataño-based Aspenall Energies, which will sell the electricity produced by wind to Bacardi under a power purchased agreement. With their blades, the turbines are 137 feet high and have a rotor diameter of 75 feet.
“Puerto Rico relies on fossil fuels for virtually all its energy, so we hope other companies will follow this great leadership by Bacardi to use wind energy and other renewable energy sources,” said Puerto Rico Governor Luis G. Fortuño. “The focus on renewable energies is yet another sign of Bacardi’s social responsibility and commitment to the greater community. This sort of forward-thinking is exactly what we must encourage in Puerto Rico. This is precisely why we are introducing energy reform measures that will establish a better policy and regulatory framework that will enable more investment in renewable energy projects. The Government will serve as a partner through incentives and other support that will result in all individuals and businesses having more opportunities to become part of the energy solution.”
The two wind turbines are expected to generate approximately 1,000,000 kWh of electricity per year accounting for three to seven percent of the power used by Bacardi, roughly the consumption of the facilities tourism-related activities at its Casa Bacardi Visitor Center (and equivalent to the consumption of about 100 average households) with an expected carbon offset of more than 900 tons of CO2 per year. 100 percent of the power generated by the wind turbines will be consumed by the Bacardi facility. This project is the first step in utilizing wind power as a renewable energy source for Bacardi and the Company would consider additional wind solutions and other energy saving initiatives. The Bacardi turbine installation will be owned, operated and maintained by Aspenall Energies.
“We are proud to be the first company to install and operate an industrial scale wind project on the island of Puerto Rico. We are honored to have done so with Bacardi Corporation, a company that has shown through the years in a myriad ways how small changes, in the aggregate, can make an enormous difference,” said Raoul G. Slavin Juliá, managing director for Aspenall Energies, LLC.
“Bacardi has a strong record in environmental stewardship and is known as an innovator globally,” said Jon Grey, vice president of global operations for Bacardi. “In fact, here in Puerto Rico, Bacardi pioneered and patented the anaerobic treatment of distillery wastewater now used by other companies around the world. We use this anaerobic digester technology to treat wastewater which derives energy. In that process, micro-organisms naturally degrade waste materials, creating biogas, or methane, in the process. The biogas is fed into the boilers which power the distillery. This saves about half the energy needed to run them. The creation of the natural biogas reduces the need for imported oil or gas that would otherwise be necessary.”
Carbon dioxide is produced as an intermediate product during the fermentation process. This gas is recovered and sold to third parties mostly for carbonated beverages. In the period from June 2008 through February 2009, Bacardi has recovered and sold 10,378,251 lbs—5,189 tons of CO2—avoiding release into the environment.
To save water usage at the Cataño site, Bacardi treats wastewater that is then used in cooling towers during the production process. This saves 22,000 gallons of water every day.
Other environmental initiatives at the Bacardi facility in Puerto Rico include recycling old ageing barrels by dismantling and chopping them and giving the barrel chips to employees as mulch for their gardens and as well as spread on facility landscaping. As a novel idea to re-purpose promotional banners, Bacardi cuts and sews old banners into reusable shopping bags for employees.
Globally, Bacardi was certified in December 2009 to be operating in accordance with the world’s most recognized standards for quality, environment, and health and safety. Bacardi is the only major spirits company to achieve certification under ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 for all its production facilities globally, putting the company among an elite group of the world’s best-run companies.
About Bacardi Corporation
Bacardi Corporation was founded in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1936, and is part of Bacardi Limited, the largest privately held spirits company in the world. The current facility was built in 1958 on 127-acres in the town of Cataño. This Bacardi rum production facility is the largest premium rum distillery in the world, and BACARDI is the largest premium rum brand globally and is the world’s most awarded rum. BACARDI rum has been a registered brand in Puerto Rico since 1909. The facility in Puerto Rico supplies various premium BACARDI products to North America, Europe and other parts of the world. Since 2004, Bacardi Corporation has operated the state-of-the-art Casa Bacardi Visitor Center, the second most-visited venue in Puerto Rico, drawing more than 250,000 visitors a year to learn about the rich history of the Bacardi family and brand, as well as its unique production. Bacardi Corporation employs more than 200 people in sales, marketing, operations, manufacturing and other support roles and plays a significant role in the Puerto Rican economy as it is the leading private contributor to Puerto Rico’s treasury through its annual contributions of income, excise and other taxes. For further information, please visit www.casabacardi.com and www.bacardi.com.
To learn more about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) best practices at Bacardi, please visit http://www.bacardilimited.com/resp_corp.html or read our Corporate Responsibility Report at http://www.bacardilimited.com/pdf/corp_resp_report.pdf.
About Aspenall Energies, LLC
Aspenall Energies, LLC is a Puerto Rican renewable energy company founded in 2007. Its origins are in industrial real estate with more than 40 years experience on the island. The company is focused on wind and solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with industrial-sized clients. For additional information, please visit www.aspenall.com.
Bacardi Flavored Rum Links of Interest
Happy Hour Buzz: Bacardi Torched Cherry
Bacardi Dragon Berry Rum: Fun, Fresh, Easily Mixable
Bacardi Dragon Berry Cocktail Drink Recipes
Introducing Bacardi Torched Cherry Flavored Rum
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Copyright 2010 Cheri Loughlin – The Intoxicologist – All Rights Reserved
Finlandia Vodka Launches Charity Water Bottle Project
Media Release: Profits to benefit four global environmental projects Louisville, Ky. (April 22, 2010) – In honor of the 40th anniversaries of both Earth Day and Finlandia Vodka, Finlandia is releasing limited edition charity water bottles featuring designs by Klaus Haapaniemi, a world-renowned Finnish graphic artist dubbed as one of the most important rising stars in illustration and design.
“As a Finnish artist and proud of my heritage, it was a pleasure to partner with Finlandia on this project to benefit so many great environmental charities,” said Haapaniemi. “I hope my designs bring color and fantasy to Finlandia and glamorize the nature and the wildlife of Finland.”
Each design represents one of Finlandia Vodka’s core elements: the Midnight Sun, untouched nature, six-row barley and pure glacial spring water. These one-liter SIGG® water bottles will sell for $28 U.S. and Finlandia will divide all profits among four global environmental projects selected to promote sustainability beyond the brand’s distillation footprint. This cause-marketing program is an early step in a new, concerted effort to explore sustainability and the brand’s harmony with nature.
From left to right: “The Very Tired Rooster” representing the Midnight Sun, which shines for 73 days straight in the north of Finland; Untouched Nature represented by a Norse mythological character, “Ratatosk”, the red squirrel; Six-row barley featuring “The Cranes” walking in the barley field; Representing Pure Glacial Spring Water, “Thiaridae” freshwater snail.
“The Finlandia brand is honored to offer these unique water bottles with designs from Klaus Haapaniemi, a truly brilliant artist,” said Jennie Meador, global associate creative director for Finlandia Vodka. “His designs have brought our brand stories to life. And, with proceeds going to such great charities, this program really respects the nature of the Finnish spirit of sustainable living. As a Finnish brand, we strive to be in harmony with nature and the money raised will help provide for some tremendous projects around the globe.”
These limited edition Finlandia water bottles will be available on May 3 for purchase at www.finlandiawaterbottle.com.
About Klaus Haapaniemi
Finnish-born, now London-based, artist Klaus Haapaniemi became interested in illustration after seeing some well-designed Russian animations on TV when he was only eight years old. After graduating from Lahti Design Institute, he lived in Italy where he worked as a key print designer for Diesel and Diesel Stylelab. Klaus’ long list of clients include print collections for Clements Rieiro, Cacharel, Marimekko and Levis, plus an ever-expanding range of his own published books, ceramics and wall tapestry collections.
About Finlandia
Finlandia Vodka is a product with a global reputation for its unique Nordic heritage and its crystalline natural spring water, a legacy of the Ice Age. Finlandia’s unparalleled quality can be attributed to only the finest natural ingredients: pure glacial spring water and six-row barley, which offers the highest quality starch and the lowest possible content of natural oils, delivering a crisp, clean taste.
Brown-Forman Corporation is a producer and marketer of fine quality beverage alcohol brands, including Jack Daniel’s, Southern Comfort, Finlandia Vodka, Canadian Mist, Fetzer, Korbel, Gentleman Jack, el Jimador Tequila, Tequila Herradura, Sonoma-Cutrer, Chambord, Tuaca, Woodford Reserve, and Bonterra. For more information about Brown-Forman, please visit our website at www.brown-forman.com
Additional Finlandia Vodka links of interest include Sex on the Beach adapted version, 12th Annual International Finlandia Vodka Cup winning recipes, Finlandia’s 40th Anniversary plans, Cinnamon Whip Shots for two, a perfectly pink Atlantique Cocktail and a delicious cocktail to enjoy with warmer temperatures; the Tangerine Dream.
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